


Pat

by yeaka



Series: Yutopian Zoo [17]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Animal Ears, Animal Traits, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Ficlet, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2019-02-16 21:29:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13062525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: Victor learns how to take better care of sentient creatures.





	Pat

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This is set in the same partial-animal AU as some of my other ficlets, but it’s stand-alone and you don’t need to read them for this. (Long story short, human!Victor bought serow!Yuuri from the zoo and is babysitting cat!Chris.)
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own Yuri on Ice or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

Victor’s overall contact with people has definitely settled down since moving to the country, but he never regrets his choice—he’s always been one to jump in with both feet at once, and it usually works out. It mostly has with Yuuri. As fun as it was to occasionally be recognized on the street, to be invited to all sorts of events and practice daily with his coach, it’s more fun to wake up in the morning with Yuuri by his side, or at least enjoy the view of Yuuri prancing about beyond his window. 

He still keeps in digital contact with a number of people, including some of his fans, and there are entire evenings he spends devoted to his phone, combing through various accounts and stacked up messages. Often, Yuuri will come cuddle with him during it, content to simply nuzzle at his side. Today, it’s Christophe that lies sprawled across his lap, hands curled in and tail idly flicked off the edge. Victor runs one hand through Chris’ blond hair while the other scrolls through his mail. He has a wall of text from Yakov that he ignores for the moment, instead flitting to Phichit’s response—he had another hybrid question yesterday. Or rather, a _Yuuri_ question. And as much as Victor would like to think he knows it all, Phichit—Yuuri’s former handler at the zoo Victor got him from—is still ahead of him on some things.

The message is fairly short and careful, but it tells Victor what he needs to know: Yuuri’s frown cuts deep. He seemed such a carefree thing when Victor first found him in the wooded exhibit at the zoo, but there was little there to trouble him. According to Phichit, Yuuri isn’t always so easy-going. He’s anxious. And, Phichit tells him with a firm sentence and a conspicuous lack of emoticons, if Yuuri’s having a spell of anxiety, Victor better step up his game.

Victor frowns at his phone for a few seconds, wondering what exactly he’s supposed to do. Phichit doesn’t spell it out. Victor’s never been particularly good with sad people. Yakov’s told him he’s too flippant and flighty. But Yakov also told him not to move to the middle of nowhere for a half-serow man, so Victor already knows his coach isn’t always right.

He doesn’t realize that he’s stopped petting Chris until Chris idly bats at his hand. Then he looks down to find Chris gazing up at him, flushed and half-lidded, so relaxed and languid that he might as well be half asleep. He really is a handsome thing, especially when he’s so open and cuddly. He licks his full lips and bats at Victor’s hand again, long lashes fluttering. 

Victor only frowns harder, because as much as he enjoys the zoo director’s cat that he’s currently babysitting, he remembers Yuuri’s quiet protest when they first took Chris in. Victor assured Yuuri that Chris wasn’t in rut, not the way Yuuri will soon be, and he won’t even have heat—he’s just _like that_ : very sensual and tempting. And he’s got his head on Victor’s thighs with his eyes on Victor’s mouth and a quiet mewling on his lips. He was purring at Victor all morning, particularly when he brushed up against Victor’s legs during breakfast and napped against Victor’s side for most of the afternoon. Victor thought Yuuri was just having a normal flare of jealousy, hopefully squashed when Chris slept in the guest room and Victor slept in the bed that Yuuri scent-marked all over. But Phichit’s text gives him pause. 

With a withered sigh, he gently pushes Chris off his lap, murmuring, “Alright, time to get up.” Chris whines like Victor’s wounded him, but he obediently moves back anyway. Victor’s free to climb off the couch, and before he can remind himself that Chris isn’t a dog, Victor’s instinctively told him, “Stay.”

Chris nods and yawns, stretching out over the entire couch to rest. He looks like a prince on a royal settee, or maybe a royal consort. Victor turns his back to it and wanders up the stairs. He hasn’t seen Yuuri in too long, but he doesn’t think Yuuri went out, and that makes the first place to look their bed.

Sure enough, when he reaches the loft, he finds a long lump burrowed under the blankets. Victor walks around it to where Yuuri’s head is sticking out, nestled in Victor’s pillow. Most of the bed reeks of Yuuri, even more than usual—Victor’s sure he over-marked it when Chris came. But maybe some of Victor’s smell still remains, because Yuuri’s on Victor’s usual side, and that’s probably why he’s bundled up inside the blankets—he’s built for the cold and doesn’t need them. He’s also wearing one of Victor’s shirts—the white collar’s just barely visible.

Yuuri doesn’t look up until Victor sits down, perching right beside him and reaching out to stroke his jet-black hair. Then Yuuri whines, but he leans into the touch like he always does, eyes falling closed. Victor asks, as understanding as he can make it sound, “What’s wrong?”

Yuuri mumbles, “Nothing,” which Victor half expected. 

He lightly hums, “If it was nothing, you would be downstairs by now.” When Yuuri glances up, Victor offers an encouraging smile. For a long moment, Yuuri just looks at him.

Then Yuuri looks deliberately away, pulling out of Victor’s grasp, and he mutters, “You should be with Chris.”

Victor just blinks. He wasn’t expecting that. He repeats, “‘Be with’?”

“He’s a better companion for you,” Yuuri answers, and his voice isn’t sulky but resigned. “He’s soft and sultry, and he won’t go into rut and ruin your home. He obviously likes you, and you obviously like him. I... I won’t get in the way.”

“Is that so?” Victor asks, to which Yuuri says nothing. He wishes he’d thought to come up earlier, that he’d thought to pay more attention to the signs. Yuuri’s so _different_ than him that he mostly just lets it be, but he realizes now what a mistake he’s made. He reaches behind Yuuri’s ear and starts stroking again—Yuuri whimpers like he’s in pain.

“Your fur’s softer,” Victor murmurs, even though Chris has far more—his tail is long and fluffy, while Yuuri’s is just a little tuft that likes to peek out from under Victor’s borrowed tops, perfectly showing off Yuuri’s cute bottom. Yuuri’s ears are tall but not as fuzzy, and his short horns are hard as rock. But Victor leans down over Yuuri, sharing in his warmth and whispering across his cheek, “and _you_ are the one that tempts me, Yuuri.” 

Yuuri’s pink lips part, chocolate yes peering up at Victor from under heavy lashes. Victor ghosts a kiss over Yuuri’s pale skin, and he continues in no uncertain terms, “You are so beautiful, my serow, and you smell like heaven to me. I can’t wait for you to mark every bit of our home as _yours_ , and for you to beg me to lie with you. You know I promised I would mate with you then, and I will, over and over, and I’ll touch you in ways I would never touch Chris... you are the one that’s right for me, that I simply _had_ to take home with me. There’s only one hybrid for me. You’re the one that waits when I skate, that watches me, follows me, and _inspires_ me. You’re my little protégé. You’re my partner, Yuuri. ...And I’m _your_ human. Only yours.”

Yuuri’s eyes have started to water. It makes Victor hesitate, because he’s no good with tears, but he holds his connection with Yuuri all the same. They’re so close that Victor can taste Yuuri’s quickened breath and almost hear the race of Yuuri’s heart. Yuuri sniffs.

Then he rolls onto his back and opens up his arms, rising right into Victor’s. Victor unfurls to take him, drawing him close in a warm embrace. Yuuri nearly crushes him. Yuuri nuzzles into his shoulder and clings to him for dear life. It makes Victor think that he must’ve done something right, spoken Yuuri’s language, because when Yuuri shifts back afterwards, he’s smiling.

His eyes are still full of tears. But he holds Victor’s hands and looks happy despite it all. Victor lifts one hand to kiss, though he’s sure Yuuri won’t understand the gesture. While Yuuri sniffles and recovers, Victor fetches Yuuri’s glasses off the nightstand.

Victor slips them onto Yuuri’s face, affectionately rearranges Yuuri’s dark bangs, then suggests, “Why don’t you come downstairs and pet Chris for a while, hm? Then you’ll see that he’d be just as happy to have you as me.” Yuuri snorts like he doesn’t believe it, and Victor adds, “Besides, you’re the ones that should be bonding—two hybrids stuck here with a boring old human. It’s a wonder you don’t kick _me_ out!”

Yuuri says, “Never,” and pulls Victor in for another hug. It’s shorter and less needy, but every bit as tender. 

When they part again, Victor remembers, “I’d better start on dinner for myself now anyway. Then when I’m finished, how about I give you a bath, just the two of us? Phichit tells me cats aren’t so good with water.”

“I’d like that,” Yuuri sighs, “very much.” He spares another moment to nuzzle into Victor, and Victor nuzzles back, rubbing their foreheads together while Yuuri coos and smiles.

Then they get up to go, only Yuuri pauses them, drawing Victor’s hand back to rub against his scent gland. He murmurs sheepishly, “Just in case.” And Victor laughs and lets him.


End file.
